Railway tie plate lifter



Feb. 10, 1953 F. W. COLLINS ET AL RAILWAY TIE PLATE LIFTER Filed Jan. 26, 1950 4% FIG. 4 4

FIG 2 15g; 2% a'ii I :1 /L [Jul /5 Z R I if? 5/ 76 d INVENTOPS FRANK n! COLL/NS WAL r51? 1.. 015mm! 7' NEYS Patented F eb. 10, 1953 RAILWAY TIE PLATE LIFTER Frank W. Collins and Walter L. Dietrich, Windsor, Conn.

Application January 26, 1950, Serial No. 140,618

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in a railway tie plate lifter or throw-out bar.

As is commonly known, stee1 tie plates are disposed between each railway tie and the rails when spiked to the tie for purposes of providing a firm and relatively broad metallic surface upon the tie against which the rails rest. Such tie plates moving the spikes from the ties soas to free the; 1

connecting angle bars by which said rail is con-. nected to the ends of the adjacent rails, remove the rail from its position on the tie plates, manui",

rail therefrom, disconnect said rail from the ally remove the tie plates entirely from the ties, and replace them with other tie plates placed to gage measurement upon the ties, replace the 1 previously removed rail or a new one in its place}; secure the rail at its ends to the ends of the adjacent rails, and spike the rail and tie plates to the ties. The foregoing description of operation is merely one example in which it is neces,-

sary to manually, directly handle tie plates when exchanging rails in a section of track. Such a handling of the tie plates is presently performed by manually grasping and removing the tie'plate' and then manually placing a new tie plate'upon.

the tie in its proper position according to gage measurement. are relatively heavy and it is not uncommon that operators injure their hands and fingers during Such manual opera-' the handling of the same. tions also consume a considerable amount of time.

As stated above, the tie plates provide a tie plate lifter employing electromagnetic means for holding a tie plate detachably attached thereto and providing a battery box supported on the tie plate holder in a box in a position so as not to cause obstruction during use by the operator and also provide ready view Of the tie plate by the operator while handling a tie plate magnetic-ally attached to the tie plate lifter.

Details of these objects and of the invention, as well as other objects thereof, are set forth in the attached specification and illustrated in the accompanyin drawings forming a part thereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a tie plate lifter shown in operative position relative to a tie plate on a railway tie.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the lifter shown in Fig. 1, illustrated on a somewhat larger scale, and positioned operatively relative to a tie Plate shown in dotted lines.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the tie plate lifter shown in Fig. 2, said lifter being illustrated partly in section to illustrate details of the invention.

Fig. 4; is a wiring diagram of the circuit em- ,bodied in the tie plate lifter comprising the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, the tie plate lifter Ill comprises a handle l2 which, in its normal operative position is disposed horizontally as illustrated in Fig. 1. Opposite ends of the handle f I2 are engageable by the hands of an operator 14 as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

.the handle 12 is a stem [6, the upper end of Depending from which is made integral with the handle l2 by any suitable means such as welding. Preferably, the handle l2 and stem I6 are tubular and It is an object of the present invention to pro-i;

vide a tie plate lifter operable to engage ati'e plate and either lift it from its position on a tie or place it in its correct position upon a tie cording to gage measurement without requiring manual engagement of the tie plate directly by the operator.

It is another object of the invention to provide a tie plate lifter which embodies electromagnetic 1 means for engaging a tie plate and holding it J therefore hollow for purposes of accommodating the circuit wires to be described and also for purposes of providing strength combined with lightness in weight.

A battery box I 8, which is preferably made jfrom any suitable material such as sheet metal, is secured to the stem l6 intermediately of the ends thereof such as by welding, for example.

The box is preferably rectangular in shape as is clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and the box A cup-shaped housing 28 having a hollow stem '30 projecting from its upper end is secured to the lower end of stem I6 by the stem 30 telescopically engaging the lower end of stem l6. A plurality of screws 32 secure the housing and stem 16 in assembled relationship. The housing 28 encloses an electromagnetic coil334 which surrounds an iron core 36. The housing 28 is preferably formed from iron or steel. The lower open face of the housing 28 is covered by a suitable closure 38 which may be formed of any suitable non-magnetic material, such as brasspfitted into a suitable seat 40 formed in the-outer. end of cup 28. its seat by any suitable means such as's'crews, peening, or the like.

tery box l8 obstructing the view of the tie plate by the operator.

It will also be noted that the longitudinal axis of the box l8, as viewed in plan view in Fig. 2, is at an acute angle to the axis of the handle I2, whereby the box I8 is positioned so as not to hit the legs of the operator during use as well as not obstruct the vision of the operator while viewing the tie plate 48 as when the operator is placing it in operative position upon a tie.

A wiring diagram illustrating the circuit employed in the tie plate lifter H] to electrically ,...connect the switch and battery with the coil is The closure 38 may be secured within Said face serves to' protect the coil 34 as well asholdit in itsloperable position.

The leads of the coil 34 are connected ft'ocircuit wires 42 which extend through the stem l6,

-A switch 44 is mounted in one projecting below the handle l2, whereby-the same may readily be operated by one'hand of the op- ;erator 4 during use. .The switch is connected by v one of the wires 42 within the circuit in such a manner as to energize the coil 34 by the battery when the switch 44 is closed, and tode-energize the coil when the switch 44 is open.

illustrated in Fig. 4.

. It' will be seen from the foregoing that the tie plate lifter comprising the present invention is simple and rugged in construction, capable of ready manipulation by an operator without undue fatigue for purposes of effectively lifting a tie plate from a tie or placing a tie plate in operative position upon a tie, to gage measurement or otherwise... The device obviates the necessity for manually engaging the tie plate, whereby the hazards previously attending manual handling of tie plates are materially lessened, if not eliminated entirely.

During operation, the operator [4 stands adjahis feet, for example, whilestanding upon the tie 50 on which. the tie plate 48 is disposed orupon one of theties adjacent. the tie 50. The housing 28 of the electromagnet is placed against core 36 are disposed firmly against the upper cent the tie plate 48 so as to straddle it with The power consumption of the electromagnet is also such that hundreds of tie plates may be lifted by a lifter comprising the present inven- 30 tion without requiring the replacement of the battery which energizes the electromagnet. The cost of such batteries being low, the total operating cost of said lifter is negligible, and the speed .with which tie plates may be handled by such lifter is far greater than that possible by present manual methods.

.While the invention has been-illustrated and described in its preferred embodiment and has 2 included certain details, it should be understood surface of tie plate 48. The switch 44 is then .the tie and permitswinging the tie .plate lifter and tie plate pendulum like, for example, 'in the Whilebeing I direction of arrow shown in Fig. 1. so swung, the switch 44 may beiopened by the operator after the tie plate has been cleared from the tie and said tie plate will then immediately be detached from thetie plate lifter due to the de-energizing of the coil 34 when the switch is opened.

The device is of a naturereadily. adapting it to be swung pendulum like as indicated in Fig. 1

that the invention is not to be limited to the precise details herein illustrated and described since the same may be carried out in other ways,

falling-within the scope of the invention as claimed.

We claimas our invention: 1. A railway tie plate lifter comprising in combination, a T-shaped member, the cross-piece thereof comprising a handle and the stern being tubular and depending therefrom in normal operative position, a cup-shaped electromagnet housing connected to the free end of said stem.

: an electromagnet coil and core supported within said housing, said housing and core being engageable with the topof a tie plate, a battery and, with only slight practice, an operator is able to manipulate the tie plate lifter so as to be .able to engage a tie plate and swing it so as to cause the tie plate to be deposited in substantially any desired position adjacent the tie.

' placing of a tie plate upon a tie with the lifter l0,

.handle. and electrically box supported by saidstem intermediately of the ends thereof, said battery box being offset to one side of said stem, a battery within saidbox, a manually operable switch supported by saidhanthe stem depending therefrom in normal operatan operator may look downward and readily see i the edges of the tie plate 48 as is clearly illuscurately positioned upon tie 50- without the bating position, an inverted generally cup-shaped housing. secured to the free end of said stem, an electromagnetic coil and core supported within said housing, said core having one end portion projecting into the open end of said housing, a non-magnetic disk-like closure plate secured to said housing adjacent the open end thereof, said closure plate having a-central aperture surround- 6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Clark Sept 30, 1902 Balazivk Jan. 9, 1923 Hargrove Apr. 18, 1933 Kahn Jan. 13, 1942 

